Planet Earth Theatre's Psycho Beach Party
(out of 
)Mark S.P. Turvin
(home office) (602) 912-0117
I can be reached for comment via e-mail at: mspt@goldfishpublishers.com
Reviewed 11/12/99
(out of )Actor/playwright Charles Busch hit on a great mixture when he put together those wonderfully cheesy genres of '50s beach movies and psychological thrillers. The result is the hilariously campy Psycho Beach Party, a play that defies rational thought and flaunts as many conventions as it can. While very enjoyable in a twisted way, this is a script that also relies on its actor's timing, pacing, and modulation, and directorial consistency to succeed. Playing camp can be irreverently enjoyable, or painfully obvious. Strangely, Planet Earth Theatre's current production, directed by talented actor Greg London, manages to be both at once with the expected mixed results.
Chicklet is Malibu Beach's version of Gidget, but a tall, painfully thin, and horribly gawky semi-pubescent, instead of a girl midget. She and her best friend Berdine (who spends an inordinate amount of time obsessing on Chicklet) and typical blonde bombshell Marvel Ann, are visiting the beach with different agendas. Chicklet wants to get the hunkiest beach bum to teach her to surf, Marvel Ann is hunting for a man, and Berdine is, well, there to obsess on Chicklet. Chicklet captures the desire of studly Kanaka, Marvel Ann catches the eye of former Psych-major Star Cat, and Berdine, uhh, obsesses. But Chicklet has a terrible secret...her thin body happens to be home to an apartment house-full of personalities, quite possibly the result of Mrs. Forrest, a mother who makes Bette Davis and Joan Crawford look like well-adjusted women. When wayward starlet Bettina Barnes joins the group, things get way-out-of-hand.
Mr. London has definitely put his directorial stamp on the production. Rather than having the actors play their roles with a knowing wink and a suggestive smile, he has aimed them more toward a stupidly-earnest presentational. While this approach has its moments, such as during Chicklet's flirtations, it just doesn't work as well as the choice of coyly smug. And, while he has done a superb job of casting the women, the gents seem more to have been chosen for physique than the ability to carry these simplistic, yet comedically-challenging roles. When this show is funny, it can be very funny, but when it misses, it does so by a wide margin.
The evening belongs to the girls. Michelle Wilkey is as camp as Pee Wee Herman, who is similar in tone to her Chicklet. Her crowning achievements are her flawless transitions between her different personalities. Even stronger is Jourdan Green as frumpy intellectual Berdine. Her annoying vocalization and lax physicality are great for the role. Jessica Makinson's Marvel Ann and Nina Miller's Bettina Barnes are varying shades of sex kittens, and both are handled perfectly. Ms. Makinson's variation tips its hat to the bad girls of the beach movies like Connie Francis, while Ms. Miller's owes a debt of gratitude to B-horror movie favorites like Mamie Van Doren. Solid is Darby Winterhalter's presentation of Chicklet's evening dress and latex glove mom, a part ordinarily played by a man in drag (and, if I remember correctly when I first saw an Off-Broadway production, performed by the author himself).
The men don't live up to their counterparts, though. The best are Austin Moore as Kanaka and Slade Hall as Star Cat, who offer acceptable, though not overwhelming performances. From there, the beach ball is dropped by Joshua Meindertsma and Lalo Quezda as a little too buddy-buddy buddies Provoloney and Yoyo. The discovery of the depth of their relationship is awkwardly handled and embarrassing to watch. Jason Gruner is wasted stage-time as the kinda-but-not-really narrator Nicky.
Mr. London's work as Costume and Set Designer, with Jen D'Amore, is very well handled, and Mike Saar's Sound Design is impressive.
This is the perfect show for a late night presentation. It's crass, silly, and over-the-top. This production does have its share of crassness, silly moments and funny presentations, but balances it with some strange choices and substandard performances. If Charles Busch's plays, or a monstrous conjoining of Annette Funicello and Mrs. Bates are your style, then it's probably worth staying up for.
Production Details:
Psycho Beach Party by Charles
Busch
Planet Earth Theatre, Phoenix
(480) 736-8060
October 22nd - November 20th, 1999